happypamama Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 I've got my sixth grader reading Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia and The Way We Work this year. I thought he'd like WWW because of the pictures, but he's telling me he doesn't really like either book and that he isn't absorbing anything. He isn't interested in note taking or narrating or the like; he wants a story. He LOVES history and literature. He uses Kingfisher History Encyclopedia and Human Odyssey for history, and although he likes HO better than KHE, he likes both. How he likes KHE and not KSE, I have no idea, but he does. He says history is interesting because it's about what people did, and that's a story. He's reading Logic to the Rescue for logic and liking it because it's a story. So, what can we try for life science that's more of a story? He did not like Mr. Q. I want him to absorb the stuff about cells, human body, plants, animals, etc. Any ideas? I don't need labs; I have those covered. I've heard Hakim has something for science. However, I could NOT stand the tone of her History of US, so if her science is similar, no thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 (edited) Oh, I was going to suggest Hakim. We loved her science books. Then again, we also loved her history books. Some people find her tone annoying, but it never struck us as that way. I gave our Hakim science books to the homeschool store in Dillsburg. If you really want to see them, you can call the lady and see if they're still there and then pop in and look at them. (Three textbooks and the teachers guide. Three, because we didn't want to share, so we all had our own copy.) If you hate the tone, then it won't work, but she certainly did tell the story of science as a story. We chose those books for the same reason you want story-science: the boys love history and stories and it was a perfect fit. Edited September 22, 2016 by Garga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amateur Actress Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Magic School Bus books? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 What was it about her tone you didn't like? She might have changed it for her science books if she received enough negative feedback about it for the history books. I remember reading the science books and thinking she did a great job of not looking down on people from the past as "stupid" for not having the same understanding we have today. She set them up as if they were the very highly intelligent people they were. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 What about Quark Chronicles? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 Magic School Bus books? Possibly. They might be too easy for him, even the chapter books, so he might not engage with them, or they might be just fun enough that it doesn't matter, but I will show them to him and see what he thinks. Sometimes it's hard to tell with him. (Bonus: he could read them to his little brothers, which he always loves an excuse to do.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 What was it about her tone you didn't like? She might have changed it for her science books if she received enough negative feedback about it for the history books. I remember reading the science books and thinking she did a great job of not looking down on people from the past as "stupid" for not having the same understanding we have today. She set them up as if they were the very highly intelligent people they were. It's been a while, but I felt like she talked down to the reader, like maybe more conversational than I liked. However, that was when they were young enough that I was reading aloud. So it's possible that they'd be right for him to read to himself. Thanks for the recommendation -- I may to try to track down a copy and see. Won't know if we don't look! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 What about Quark Chronicles? Have not seen those, but thank you! We will check them out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 Okay, I requested the middle Hakim book from the library, since it seems like it would have the most life science stuff. The Quark Chronicles look good but a little pricey, so I'll see if I can find one used. Thank you for mentioning Magic School Bus, though! I just read one to my 2nd and Ker, so I don't know why I didn't think of that. He says he would like to try them, and his eyes lit up at the prospect of reading them to the little guys. We could supplement with looking at the drawings in WWW. But also, I was able to use MSB as a starting point on Google, and now I have several pages up with science-oriented novels. I'm off to check them out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deerforest Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 We love Hakim's science books, but they do not focus on life science at all. She actually started a similar one specifically for life science but she either hasn't finished it or it was never published. I had a few email exchanges with her about this. You could just do a bunch of different trade publications, from folks like Sachs, Gould, Dawkins. Or books like Your Inner Fish or The Third Chimpanzee. My suggestions are all heavily dependent on an acceptance of evolution. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 We love Hakim's science books, but they do not focus on life science at all. She actually started a similar one specifically for life science but she either hasn't finished it or it was never published. I had a few email exchanges with her about this. You could just do a bunch of different trade publications, from folks like Sachs, Gould, Dawkins. Or books like Your Inner Fish or The Third Chimpanzee. My suggestions are all heavily dependent on an acceptance of evolution. Well, I will check them out and see -- thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry in OH Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Survive Inside the Human Body vols. 1-3 cover the digestive, circulatory, and nervous systems. If he likes this style but wants something more advanced, there is also the Manga Guide to Physiology. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 I looked at some of the Queen stuff, but the ones for around my son's age weren't quite focused where I wanted. I need to check more deeply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted September 22, 2016 Author Share Posted September 22, 2016 Survive Inside the Human Body vols. 1-3 cover the digestive, circulatory, and nervous systems. If he likes this style but wants something more advanced, there is also the Manga Guide to Physiology. Thank you -- will look for those! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loesje22000 Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 A dutch story about a boy and lot of insects :) https://www.amazon.com/Eric-Land-Insects-Godfried-Bomans/dp/0395652316/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1474565219&sr=8-3&keywords=Godfried+bomans Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted September 22, 2016 Share Posted September 22, 2016 Quark Chronicles plus library books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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